The essence of good and adequate legal practice may well lie in the small details: when and when to file a new law suit. An article in today’s New York Law Journal tells of an easy to make mistake in filing a “special proceeding”. These cases are often subject to a very short statute of limitations, arising from a denial by government and an Artcle 78 proceedings.

The article, by Connors and Gleason, tells of some of the many ways to lose a case from the begining. Is this not legal malpractice? “In New York civil litigation, the painful analogy is not to this great champion, but to the destiny of the lesser horse. The fate of too many meritorious cases in New York State is determined based on mistakes made at the starting gate of virtually all New York State Court actions: the clerk’s office.”